The Other European Views of

The ancient world primarily projected images of the Other as a matter of curiosity, with the specific purpose of populating worlds far from the eastern Mediterranean to satisfy general scientific interest. But in the early Middle Ages the contrast between self and other gained in intensity because of the sharp conflict between the Christian Church and pagan cultures, the constant threat of famine due to undeveloped agriculture and farming, and constant military threats from other places (Huns, Saracens [Arabs], Vikings, and later the Magyars). A remarkable expression of the fear of the Other can be found in the myriad monster images depicted in churches, on government buildings, on the facades of houses, in wall paintings, in sculptures, and in numerous manuscript illuminations (Benton, Camille). Some of the best medieval art focuses on these monstrous figures and elaborates on their fearful, hideous features, reflecting a highly ambivalent and contradictory attitude toward the Other. Whereas Christian theologians established rigid criteria to determine good versus evil, or self versus other, in accordance with biblical teaching, popular culture continued to be dominated by strong undercurrents of paganism that derived strength from its fascination with and abhorrence of the Other (Milis). In the Old English heroic epic Beowulf (early eighth century), for example, the protagonist's struggles, first against the monster Grendel, then against its mother, and finally against a dragon, represent the individual stages of interaction with a foreign world and establishment of an identity for a particular social group. Many other heroic epics in Old Norse and Old and middle-High German literature can be explained in terms of their treatment of the Other and their interest in offering a medium of self-identification for the reader/listener (Lionarons).